Men Not Getting Enough “Me Time”

Study shows men who work and help around the house are increasingly dissatisfied with the balance

Men are increasingly unhappy with their work-family balance, a new study shows.

According to results of a survey by the Families and Work Institute of 3500 adults with kids in two-earner couples, 59 percent of dads are "conflicted over the work-life balance" in 2009, according to this Daily News article, a major leap from just 35 percent in 1977. And the more they work, the more conflicted they feel. Said one Sharon Biber, sociologist at Boston College who writes about the pressures on working women, "Men are used to cleaning up the yard, but they do that every two weeks while women wash the dishes every day… So when he starts to pitch in, it feels like a lot." (This may help explain the rise of the mantuary trend.)

Meanwhile, the study found that women (who've been balancing housework and paid work for a while now, and saw their mothers do it too) are reportedly feeling less stress over their work-life balance, probably, the study's reps suggest, because they're getting some help around the house.

We suspect 100 percent of women we'd poll would, upon hearing that men are pouting over less "me time," play the world's tiniest violin in sympathy.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us